We join any organization with so many dreams, goals to achieve related to a career. Even if we have a personal relationship, we always try to give our 100% in any work which is assigned to us, so that our career could advance. It gives us recognition from our superior & for promotion.
But in every workplace, you have to deal with lots of people to deal with like colleagues, customers. And we spend almost most of our days in the workplace. It’s quite natural to show interest in each other because you get to know more about each other as time passes & you start to enjoy each other’s company as well.
Forming a relationship at the workplace is not a bad thing, it just happens you can’t do about it. But if you don’t handle it well in your workplace, then it may cause you to lose your job due to certain workplace rules & regulations.
Below I have discussed having a romantic relationship in the workplace deeply, so you can get clarity of what you should do about it & what you shouldn’t.
WHAT’S IN IT
How Common is an employee’s romantic relationship at the Workplace?
According to vault.com 2019 data, almost more than 700+ participants have participated & the outcome was 42% of people have never really been into forming a romantic relationship at the workplace. The age bracket of 18-21 does engage in romantic relationship & their number was 30%.
The hike in number increases to 72% when middle-aged men & women vote.
Nowadays it is all about the online world, social media & finding partners from an online dating site So the number is decreasing of romantic relationship in the workplace.
But it’s not that the romantic relationship at the workplace vanishes from the scene. The possibility of happening is still there because workers are working as a team & they are sharing their highs & lows of life with each other.
And sharing your feelings, emotions & to care about each other could lead to forming a romantic relationship at the workplace.
Consequences of having a personal relationship at work
Falling in love with someone is a natural process, no one can when & which place a person could fall in love. The workplace is the place where we almost spend most of our every day there you could find a person to which you could get attracted to.
Where we most of our time, it’s possible to form a romantic relationship at that place. One could think that their working place is the best place to find their partner because that’s where they’re spending most of the day.
And there they will find people who have, same interests, ambitions. But every action has its consequences.
Every organization’s expectation from each & every employee is they give their best to complete a specific task before the deadline.
And every manager knows & aware of the fact that if there is any romantic relationship forming between any two employees then it could impact their working productivity which ultimately took a toll on the company’s growth.
Mostly every company is aware of the risk of romantic relationships & if they find out that any work is being involved in such kind of activity.
Then they immediately switch them to another department if they both are working in the same department. And in extreme cases, they may even fire you due to a violation of rules & regulation or due to no vacancy in another department.
Consequences of having Relationship with seniors at the Workplace
As I said earlier relationships could form with anyone & anywhere. If a worker is involved in a romantic relationship with their seniors, then it will have some serious consequences.
Gossip & word of mouth spread in the workplace like fire. If any co-worker finds out about the relationship, then they’ll start gossiping about that manager treating him/her differently than the rest of the worker & giving high pay-check or promotion unfairly.
Due to gossiping the whole workplace will always talk about your relationship & will judge both the senior & the employee.
This could lead to hurting both of their integrity & they may lose respect.
How to deal with Problems of the Workplace if you’re in a Romantic Relationship?
Having a romantic relationship isn’t a bad thing, but as I said every action has consequences. The relationship you formed with either with your senior or with your co-worker might create some problems, so to tackle the problems below I’ve mentioned some ways to deal with them:
1. Be Aware of your Company Policies
Remember when you’ve joined your company your HR department makes you sign an agreement letter, there you could find laws & regulations regarding relationships in the workplace.
Mostly every small or big company has a regulation for relationship development between co-worker.
Read that carefully before pursuing your relationship with your co-worker & if it’s against the rule then ask a question to yourself: “Should I pursue it? Is it worth it?”
Even if your company doesn’t have any strict rules against relationship in the workplace you should be careful & ready for any consequences because it may don’t cost you your job but different situations could happen.
And this applies to managers as well, think twice when you’re getting into a relationship with the junior, if it doesn’t work out there may be humiliation, accusations you may have to face.
2. Are you sure about that relationship?
Here I’m not trying to discourage having a relationship at the workplace. It’s just that you must be sure about those feelings which you both have.
Do you bond with each other after that long project in which you both worked together? Or you bond over a conversation which you had about that you both don’t like the decisions that your boss promotes the wrong guy.
The thing is you also have a life beyond the office. So is that relationship last only till office or beyond that? If your bond is that strong outside the office too, then it’s good to go.
3. Respect your Company Culture
It may or may not be written on your agreement policy but it’s really important to know your workplace culture.
To know what your company or workplace culture is, the best way is to just observe. How do people behave? What belief do they have? Get to know how’s their background? What’s their attitude to every situation?
If you got the idea, then adjust yourself to that culture & respect that culture.
4. Don’t let it affect your work
If you’re continuing your workplace relationship that’s fine but doesn’t let it affect your working productivity & the quality of your work.
If the company’s any higher authority knows about the fact that two of you are in a romantic relationship & that is affecting your work quality then you both could get fired from your job.
So you just need to maintain a balance between work & your relationship. Always remember “Workplace purpose is to work & take the company to the next level”.
5. Keep it a Secret or tell Everyone?
Chances are your colleagues know about your relationship. Because they may have a sense you two are getting attracted towards each other.
So you both need to decide whether to tell everyone or try to keep it a secret? Because both need to be on the same page, if not then you both could get stuck in your own words.
6. Never date your higher authority figure or junior
You should never forget the workplace is full of people & everyone has their opinions, judgment & the most important thing gossip. If you date your senior or your junior then get ready to hear some gossip about you.
People like to share stories with each other, especially that story which someone exclusively knows. If that worker got a promotion then another co-worker will say that because he/she has a relationship with a senior.
So it’s better to stay out of this mess.
7. What if the relationship didn’t work out?
Break-ups can be painful but don’t even try to make a scene about your break-up in your workplace. You both need to deal with this situation as calmly as possible.
Remember your whole office is involved before trying anything silly & this could also impact the relationship at workplace policy.
You have to come to a mutual decision about whether if you both are comfortable working in the same place one should move on to a different workplace.
And if the answer is you both have no problem co-existing in the same office then do as you say.
You shouldn’t taunt each other, blame each other, or have a verbal fight with each other. Respect the workplace decorum & don’t make the workplace environment toxic.
Conclusion
If you find someone attracted in your workplace & you think you should date him/her, that’s fine but always proceed after considering the rules & regulations or policies of the office & questioning yourself: Is it worth it?
And if you both decided to continue your relationship then make sure it doesn’t affect your work quality.
Always behave like professionals in the workplace rather than behaving like love birds.
If your relationship doesn’t work-out remember you both are professionals & don’t bring your problems in the workplace.
Also you can read our blog on What Is Interruption – How To Manage It